Windham 63

Bonny Eagle 58

Down 10 at halftime, the Windham boys’ basketball team appeared to be headed for a loss on the road at Bonny Eagle on Tuesday night. But Travis Guerrette and Ryan MacQueston took over in the fourth quarter to tie the game for Windham and eventually help the Eagles pull away for a 63-58 win over the Scots.

“Ryan kept his composure in the second half,” said Windham coach Kevin Millington. “He got a little wild in the third, but after that he settled down and made some shots. Travis is our leader. That’s pretty typical of him to step up when it matters.”

The Eagles entered the fourth quarter trailing by eight. Two quick baskets cut the deficit in half. The Scots held Windham at bay for as long as they could, but midway through the fourth, MacQueston tied the game with a three pointer. The Scots held on for a little longer before another MacQueston three tied the game again. Guerrette then scored five straight points to give his team the lead.

Down the stretch it was the MacQueston and Guerrette show. MacQueston tallied nine of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Guerrette, who also led the team with 18 points, scored 12 of those in the fourth quarter.

“We hit some big shots at the end there,” Guerrette said. “The team (played good defense). Bonny Eagle is a good team, (Scots head coach Rick) Simonds coaches them well. They are putting something together here towards the end of the season. We got some good steals and hit some big shots.”

Early in the game it looked as though the Scots had things pretty well in hand. Windham took their first lead of the game, a brief one, in the first quarter, 4-3. John Onesti put the Scots back on top with a pair of baskets that touched off a 16-0 run. Guerrette’s three at the buzzer ended Windham’s scoreless run. After the first quarter, Bonny Eagle led 19-7.

“Coach Simonds has done an awesome job with that team,” Millington said. “They play really, really hard. They packed in that zone on us in the first half. We knew we had to get the ball inside then kick it back out for three. We had a hard time with that in the first half.”

The Eagles got a little more involved in the second quarter shaving just two points off their deficit. Lincoln Sanborn helped the Scots maintain their double-digit lead with seven points in the second. In the first half, Bonny Eagle held MacQueston to just two points and Guerrette had just three and the Scots headed to the locker room up 30-20.

In the third quarter, Windham’s full court press started paying off. They were able to force Bonny Eagle to make several mistakes. That allowed them to pull within eight points by the end of the third quarter. MacQueston had seven points in the third. Sanborn again helped maintain Bonny Eagle’s lead with seven of his game high 20 points coming in the third.

“We knew all game long we needed to pressure them,” Millington said. “But we weren’t getting out of man to man in the first half and they made some shots. I think it was a big factor in the second half. We were able to get Bonny Eagle out of rhythm. We got a few turnovers but it took them out of rhythm. But Lincoln Sanborn, (Nate) Doehler and (John) Onesti are some terrific players.”

Bonny Eagle drops to 7-8 with the loss while Windham improves to 9-6. The two teams will do it all over again on Friday night. This time they will be at Windham High.